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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Kate: Hello, I’m Kate Colin and this is 6 Minute English. Today I'm joined by
before Rebecca?
Jackie: Hi Kate, well no….I'm afraid I've never heard of couch surfing but let me try
to work it out…..A couch is another word for a sofa or long soft seat on which
more than one person can sit, and surfing (when not used in the sporting sense)
can mean the act of visiting lots of different places. For example surfing the
Kate: Good guess work! Couch surfing is a relatively4 new term used to describe an
internet-based hospitality5 service - the practice of either offering your sofa to a
stranger to sleep on or staying with someone you've never met before. This
accommodation system has become a world wide success in the last two or
three years providing people all over the world with a couch or a floor to sleep
on absolutely free.
I think I'd rather have a bed in a hotel than somebody's sofa ….but I can see
there must be some benefits….
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009
Page 2 of 4
Kate: And we'll be finding out about them later in the programme, but before we go
popular destination for couch surfing. Is is:
a) London
b) New York
c) Paris
Rebecca: Answers
Kate: We'll check you answer at the end of the programme. But first, let's find out
sleep on. So if you are looking for somewhere to stay, you simply look up
the area where you're going and see if there is anyone there willing to give
you a bed or couch and then you contact them.
Rebecca: But why would someone let people come and stay with them – people who
they've never even met before?!!
Kate: Well, hopefully we're going to find out. We're going to hear from a
journalist called Fleur Britain was so interested in the system of couch
China, Kazackstan and Mongolia only staying with people who offered her
mean Rebecca?
Kate: And worldly views?
Rebecca: Well, this means the experiences of people who have travelled a lot or had
experience of many different places.
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009
Page 3 of 4
Kate: Let's listen. Can you hear the reasons or motives why people are willing to
offer their houses (or couches) to strangers for free and volunteer to be hosts?
Hosts are what we call people who have guests in their house, for eg. if you
came to stay in my house for a night or two, I would be your host.
Extract 1
Actually you'll find that lots of hosts have many motives, maybe they want to practise their
English, maybe they live in a country where it's difficult for them to get a visa, or actually to
afford to travel. Sometimes people want their children to experience the worldly views of
travellers. Some people are just instinctive15 hosts and they just love having people in their
house.
Rebecca: She said that people have a range of motives. That maybe they want to
practise their English, that maybe they want their children to experience the
worldly views of travellers. Or maybe they just like having people in their
houses. She called them 'instinctive hosts' which means they don’t have
any other reason for wanting people to stay with them other than just
enjoying the experience.
Kate: So we've heard about why people might want to offer their house to
strangers, but what are the benefits to the people who are sleeping on the
couches – the travellers? We’re going to hear the word 'compelling16'. What
does this mean?
Rebecca: Compelling is used to describe something which is very exciting or
interesting and it makes you want to do it.
Kate: And 'inside track'?
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009
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Rebecca: Inside track means getting access to something which only certain people
have. So if I had an inside track on something, I would have a special
position or relationship with a person that gives you advantages that other
people do not have.
Kate: Let's listen. What unique experiences did she have through couch surfing?
Extract 2
There are so many compelling things to the idea of couch surfing in that you get amazing
access to the inside story. So we would start off by looking at our guidebooks, you know,
instead we got the inside track, and were taken to things that weren't in the guidebook,
taken to their friend's houses, went to house parties….
Rebecca: She said she was taken to friend's houses and parties. You can really see
why you can get the 'inside track' to a country and how couch surfing can
help you to meet people to see the real side of a country rather than just
being a tourist.
Kate: So would you ever like to try couch surfing?
Rebecca: answers
Kate: And finally to the question I asked you earlier…..Which city is currently the
most popular for couch surfing?
The answer is in fact Paris with 22,000 surfers visiting the city.
Kate: That's all we have time for. Until next week. Goodbye.
点击收听单词发音
1 couch | |
n.睡椅,长沙发椅;vt.表达,隐含 | |
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2 assume | |
vt.假装;假定,设想;承担;呈现,采取 | |
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3 couches | |
n.长沙发椅( couch的名词复数 );睡椅;(病人受检查时躺的)长榻;(尤指诊室内的)诊察台 | |
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4 relatively | |
adv.比较...地,相对地 | |
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5 hospitality | |
n.好客,殷勤;adj.(气候等)宜人,适宜 | |
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6 finding | |
n.发现,发现物;调查的结果 | |
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7 luxurious | |
adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的 | |
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8 currently | |
adv.通常地,普遍地,当前 | |
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9 works | |
n.作品,著作;工厂,活动部件,机件 | |
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10 databases | |
n.资料库( database的名词复数 );数据库;(贮存在计算机中的)数据库 | |
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11 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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12 extract | |
vt.取出,提取,获得,摘录;n.摘录,提出物 | |
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13 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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14 motives | |
n.动机,目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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15 instinctive | |
adj.(出于)本能的;直觉的;(出于)天性的 | |
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16 compelling | |
v.令人信服的 | |
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